."

In the continuation of the war a French force of twenty thousand men under
Rochambeau marched against Toussaint, who was strongly intrenched at Crete
a Pierrot. In the contest that followed Toussaint at first outgeneralled
Rochambeau and defeated him with severe loss. But the assistance he looked
for from his subordinates failed to reach him, and at length he was forced
to retreat.

The French, however, despite their superior numbers and the military
experience of their leaders, found that they had no mean antagonist in the
negro general, and Leclerc again resorted to negotiation, offering the
blacks their freedom if they would submit. Toussaint, seeing that he was
unable to hold his own against his powerful foe, and convinced that the
terms offered would be advantageous to his country, now decided to accept
them, saying, "I accept everything which is favorable for the people and
for the army; as for myself, I wish to live in retirement."

The negro liberator trusted his enemies too much. The pride of Napoleon
had not yet digested the affront of Toussaint's message, "From the First
of the Blacks to the First of the Whites," and he sent orders to Leclerc
to arrest and send him to France. In June, 1802, a force was sent secretly
at night to Toussaint's home, where he was dwelling in peace and quiet.
The house was surrounded, two blacks that sought to defend him were killed
on the spot, and he was dragged from his bed and taken to the coast. Here
he was placed on board a man-of-war, which at once set sail for France.

Napoleon's treatment of Toussaint was one of the dark deeds in his career.
Reaching France, the captive was separated from his wife and children and
confined in the dungeon of a dreary frontier castle. Here, one morning in
April, 1803, Toussaint L'Ouverture, the negro liberator, was found dead.
He had been starved to death, if we may accept the belief of some authors.

The Haytien patriot died in poverty, though he might easily have
accumulated vast wealth. In his official position he had maintained a
degree of magnificence, and Napoleon believed that he had concealed great
riches somewhere in the island. He sent spies to question him, but
Toussaint's only reply was, "No, the treasures you seek are not those I
have lost." The lost ones were his wife, his children, and his liberty.

Treachery is often an error, and Napoleon was soon to find that he had
made a fatal mistake in his treatment of the leade